OTTAWA — Conservatives are pushing the government to abolish the Temporary Foreign Worker program after newly released government figures showed the program cost Ottawa $1.6 billion over the past five years.
The figures were released through an Order Paper question submitted by Conservative MP Brad Vis.
In March, the Carney government announced a relaxation of rules for the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program in rural Canada. At the request of any premier, the allowable share of low-wage TFWs in rural workforces can be increased from 10% to 15%. So far, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia have opted in.
It is notable that most provinces have not chosen to avail themselves of the federal government’s offer to boost TFW numbers. The Canadian public’s support for immigration restriction shows few signs of cooling, and provincial governments are to some extent behaving accordingly.
Federal records show Ottawa continues to lose millions administering migrant worker permits, with taxpayers covering the shortfall as program fees fail to keep pace with rising costs.
Figures tabled in Parliament reveal the Department of Employment spent $177.7 million last year processing 137,118 permits under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, while collecting just $146.5 million in fees — leaving a $31.2 million gap.
Everything is a scam in Canada now.
B.C. Premier David Eby has signalled he won’t support the federal government’s move to temporarily increase rural employers’ allowances for temporary foreign workers, saying there should be a pathway to permanent residency instead.
It comes after an event Monday on the Sunshine Coast where the local MP re-announced a move to allow rural employers to have up to 15 per cent of their workforce be low-wage temporary foreign workers (TFW).
The new foreign workers cap is up from the current cap of 10 per cent, and would allow for eligible workers to get an automatic one-year extension on their work permits.
Send them back. Send the politicians who support this assault on our economic and social security back with them.
CALGARY — While Statistics Canada released new data on Friday that Canada’s economy lost 83,900 jobs in February, Employment and Social Development Canada announced changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFW), drawing consternation from many observers.
Canadians are showing little sympathy for employers who claim they cannot find workers and must turn to foreign labour, according to new federal research that suggests public sentiment on immigration is hardening.
A 2025 annual tracking study commissioned by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada found focus group participants were largely unconvinced by arguments that lowering immigration levels would hurt businesses dependent on migrant workers.
😳
— Duke Canuck 🤙 (@duke_canuck) February 19, 2026
(Incognito)
The number of inspections of employers hiring temporary foreign workers has plummeted over the past five years — with most conducted without inspectors ever setting foot on worksites — even as the number of migrant workers and reports of abuse have surged, according to government data obtained by the Star.
Annual inspections fell 57 per cent, from 3,365 in 2020 to 1,435 in 2024, according to Employment and Social Development Canada, the department that oversees the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program.
The Liberals always find new ways to grift.
Canada’s food industry has become addicted to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). The numbers tell a sobering story.
In just a few months of enforcement data — from July to late September 2025 — the federal government has listed 26 food-related employers found non-compliant with federal rules governing the program. That’s everything from oyster farms to sushi restaurants, cafes, and food processors. That’s nearly 40% of all companies fined during that period.
A New Brunswick seafood processing company has been fined $1 million and banned from using a government program to hire foreign workers for failing to comply with federal and provincial labour laws.
Bolero Shellfish Processing Inc., located in Saint-Simon, N.B., received the maximum financial penalty on Sept. 17 for failing to offer appropriate wages and working conditions and for “failing to provide a workplace that was free of abuse,” Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) said in a statement. The company also received a 10-year ban from taking part in the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program.
The owner of an Etobicoke-based Canadian Tire store has been fined $111,000 by the federal government for violating the guidelines of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program.
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), the federal ministry that runs the TFW program, found branch owner Ezhil Natarajan in violation of two guidelines: that wages, work conditions or the job did not match what was listed in offers of employment and that employees were assigned to work different roles than what they were hired for.
